We agree – on our list of Least Favorite Things is studying nonprofit accounting by yourself. Nonprofit accounting can be tedious and boring. (Alright, SOME of you accounting nerds out there love this stuff. Just bear with us.) What’s the point of memorizing a bunch of rules about debits and credits? Now consider a nonprofit…
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The employees of your nonprofit organization have worked hard all year for way less than they’re worth. Wouldn’t it be nice to give each one a holiday bonus as a thank you? Cash Bonuses Each holiday season we see nonprofit organizations pay cash bonuses to employees outside the normal payroll process. We need to address…
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Let us guess. What you really want is not just basic 1099-MISC instructions. You want the inside scoop on how to deal with this task so you can cross it off your list. You want peace of mind that you are complying with IRS requirements. And if you’ve ever been through a “hair on fire” January…
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If you are struggling to understand a nonprofit balance sheet and other financial statements, then this post is for you! And it’s especially for you if you are not a “numbers person.” Chances are you’ve looked at your organization’s profit and loss report and never thought much about the balance sheet. If that’s the…
Read MoreIn our last two ports of call on our Chart of Accounts Grand Tour, we visited Accounts and Pledges Receivable and also looked at Accounts Receivable Aging and Due Dates. Today we visit a related topic, bad debt, and take a look at the bad debts entry you need to make in your books. We find…
Read MoreIn response to our blog post Managing Travel in Nonprofit Organizations, Kate Feibusch from Peten Health asked: “My NPO’s mission is to train health workers in Guatemala. May we pay airline costs for volunteer teachers? If those teachers also give a donation to the organization which is roughly the amount of their airfare, may we…
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Does your nonprofit reimburse travel for staff and volunteers? One of our clients, a youth soccer organization, sends players to a national tournament. The trip entails paying for airfare for the teenagers and chaperones as well as meals and lodging while at the tournament location. Plus there are miscellaneous expenses such as mileage or cab…
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We have noticed a lot of people searching for more information about ASU 2016-14. If your organization is on a calendar year, you may be going through your annual audit over the summer and having to deal with the new requirements. So we thought we’d give you a giraffe’s eye view of what you need…
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Recently we noticed an enviable problem with several of our clients. What to do with all that cash piling up? Here are stories of three nonprofits with too much cash and how they handled it. At the end of the post we provide more information about reserves and quasi endowment. Organization #1 The first organization…
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Recently a client came to us with a question about whether she should capitalize or expense a new interior door that replaced an old door within their building. The new door was heavy duty, fire resistant, and contained a window to facilitate monitoring of vulnerable clients. It was much more expensive than the standard door…
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